Presser-foot mechanism



Dec. 4,1923. 1,476,101

0. T. PETERSON ET AL PRESSER'FOOT MECHANISM Filed Aug. 20. 1921 4 v 26' ,21 6 30 2 k a Inventors:

Efr'ncsb 0.13m, 0H1) I: 1 61 6115022 Patented Dec. 4, 1

orro 'r. rnrrmson; or MALDEN, AND ERNEST c. LEAGH, or wns'r rEABonY, Massa- OHUSET'I'S, ASSIGNORS.TO VICTOR SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF LYNN, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A-CORPQRATION 01'!MASSAGII'CTSET 'IESL v Y i reEssnR-roo'r MECHANISM.

Application filed August 20, 1921. Seria1 No. 493,950.

K 'in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presser-Foot Mechanism, of which the following isa specificae I tion.

This invention relates to improvements in presser-foot mechanisms forshoe-sewing machines in which provision'is made for auto-- matically regulatingthel'ength of thread to be drawn from the source of supply in ao- V cordance with the various thicknesses of material being operated upon. a The present invention is an improvement upon the invention shown and; described in Letters Patent'No. 1,857,237 issued to'Lawrence E. Johnson, Edward Erickson, and Otto T. Peterson, Nov. 2, 1920.

In the device of the patent above referred to, the presser-fo'ot is secured to a support sl'idably mounted ina cam-operated lever adapted to'be actuated to release the pressure of the presser-foot when the work is. be- 0in fed. p

7 he slidable support is adapted also to slide transversely of the lever in order to accommodate the presser-foot to varying thicknesses of material.

It is essential that when the support is given this additional movement transversely of the lever, there should be no cramping thereof which would prevent the support from sliding freely and in the. invention maturing in thepatent abovereferredto, means was provided for accomplishing this' obj ect.

The object of'the present invention. is. to

' providev a means for taking up'the. wear when the slidable support becomes worn.

1 The invention further consists of certain novel features of construction and arrange.

'ment of parts which will be readily under- .stood by reference to the description of the drawings and to the claims to be hereinafter given.

For the purpose of illustrating the inven tion,jone preferred form thereof is illustrated in the drawings, thisform having been found to give satisfactory and reliable results althoughit is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and the invention is not limitedto, the precise arrangement and organ zatlon of these instrumentallties as here1n shown and described, except as required by the scope of the appended claims. 1 Of the drawings: I c Figure 1 represents a vertical sectionjof a portion of a shoe-sewing machine showing the present invention applied thereto.

Figure. 2 represents a sectional detail on line 2, 2, on lfi'lg'. 1, and

Figure 3 represents a sectional detail on line 3, 8, on Fig-2. Both Figs. 2 and 3are drawn to an enlarged scale.

Similar characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In. the drawings, 10 is a portion-of the frame of a shoe sewing-machine, in which is revolublymo-unted. a shaft 11 having a cam disk 12 secured thereto. j

v Secured upon the frame 10 in the usual manner, is a work support 13 whichmay be of any well-known construction.

Fixedly secured in the frame 10 is a rod 1 1 and over this rod extends a. thread t drawn from any suitable source of supply.

The thread t then passesaround a pin 15 secured to the thread'lock cam lever '16 which is pivoted at 17 and has at its rear end a roller 18 in the cam path 19 formed in one side of the cam disk 12.

a stationary pin 20 and then through slots. in

the downwardly extending arms 21. of a forkedlmember or machine element 22.;

The thread t passes from onearm 21 to the other arm 21 under. a stud orpin '23 proj ecting horizontal 1y from; the side v of the forward end'of the lever" 16. 1

From the forkedmember22 the passes through a hole .24 in the movable frame 25 to the usual wax-pot of a sewingmachine. H

thread, '1:

The cam disk 12 is provided itsouter'i face'with a cam path 26 in which is posi-I tioned a roller '27 mounted on theend of the lever or guide-member 281-pivotedat 29, and provided at its outer end with a transverse groove which is mounted the slidable formed in one edgethere'of;

thereon coa'cting with the upper face of the lever 28 to limit the downward movement of said member 22. The member 22 is also provided with an upward extension 37: between the upper end of which and the lever 28, is

a helical spring 38 which tends to retain the presser-foot 35 in its normal position and against the tension of which said presserfoot is adapted to be lifted. j I

Secured to the pivot 29 is an arm 39 adapted to be manually operated to adjust the presser-foot 35 relatively to the lever 28 1nd to accommodate it to varying thicknesses of material.

pinion 32, raising and lowering the presser ter, or exerting This is accomplished by the operator moving the arm 39 and thereby turning the foot at will.

- When any work is placed upon the support 13, the operator adjusts the presserfoot 35 in the manner just referred to so that it will press upon the upper face of the work, after which it will be automatically adjusted as the material varies inthickness.

Owing to the fact that the slidable me1nber 22 is located outside of the pinion 32 and between it and one of the guide walls of the transverse groove 30 formed in the lever 28, any movement imparted to said lever 28 by the cam path 26, will'be transmitted to the presser-foot 35 thereby removing it from the'work when it is desired to feed the lata gripping pressure when the Work has been fed.

The main portion of the cam path 26 retains the operating face of the presser-foot 35 in contact with the work on the support 13 and causes it to exert a gripping pressure thereon, but when it is desired remove the Work along the support, the roller 27 of the lever 28 moves into the portion 40 of the cam path'26 thereby causing the presserfoot to be lifted from the work temporarily while the work is being moved into anew position.

When the presser-foot is moved downwardly by the cam-controlled lever '28, the

work will be securely gripped thereby against the support 13, the lower face of the presser-foot 35 being forced into the face of the work by the cam 12.-

The machine is so built that the member 22' will be cramped between the opposite walls of the transverse guide groove 30. when the lever 28 is moved about its pivot 29. Just prior to the roll 27 entering the throw 4C0 to release the gripping pressure upon the'work,

it'wili be released and the spring 38 will be permitted to return the presser-foot into light contact'with the workbefore the roll 27 enters the concentric portion of the cam 26 to produce the gripping pressure'upon the work. It is obvious that when the slidable member 22 is moved transversely of the outer end of the.lever"28,the lower operating face of the press'er-foot 35 will remain constantly in parallelism, in whatever position said presser-foot maybe, relative to the lever 28 and when the lever 28 is in position to grip the work, said operating face is constantly in parallelism with the work support 13 regardless of the thickness ofthe material being acted upon.

This operating face of the ,p'resser-foot will only assume a position at an angle to the work support 13' when the presserrfoot is lifted by the action of the-throw 40 upon the roller 27 at the rear of the lever 28to' permit the work to be fed. At all times when the roller 27 in in the concentric portion of the cam path 26, the operating face of the resser-foot 35 is parallel with the face of the work support 13 and this is true regardless of the. position of said presserfoot 35 relative to the lever 28 at this time.

When the throw 40 operates thelever 28,

the operating face of the presser-foot will be removed entirely from the work and held in this position until the'work has been fed, after which the operating face will be returned into light contact with the work by means of the spring 38, the tension of which is only sufficient to position said presserfoot 35 without exerting any gripping pres sure upon the work. I c When the -machine is "in operation, the

shoulders 36 of the member 22 Will be separated from the upper face of the lever 28; and. the operating face ofthe presser-foot' 35 will be held by the spring 38 in light '7 contact with the workuntil the first stitch has been formed. "VVhen the lever 281s,

moved about its pivot by the throw 40,1tl1e' presser-foot 35 will be lifted'free from cone" tact with the work and will be held in ele vvated position until the Work has been fed.

At the conclusion of the work-'feeding'operation, the spring38 will force the operating 7 erie-45am face Mat res e -aster into'lightcontact therewith, the presser-foot35 being,

'teria'l and a with the work," this? action occurring while theroll' 2'7'isstill in thethrow '40! Asthe roll 27 moves into" the concentric portion of the cam 26, the "operating face "of the j resser-foot 35 will be forced into the mathereon. v a

When the cam 26 acts on the left'end of the lever 28 this leverwill'be-movedabout its pivot 29 and carrythe"members 22'and caused thereby to give a gripping pressure 'upon the work on the support 13; This acri tion is due largely'to the location of'the' pivot 29 adjacent to the sliding member 22 sothat when said lever 28 is moved about its pivotwhile the presser-foot 35 "is'in' contact with the work, the slide 22 i will be' cramped between the walls of the transverse 'groove 30 on the lever 28 and by this cramp- 7 ing operation said slide will be prevented from moving transversely of the lever 28.

upon the work support 13 and firmly grip the same.

While the work is gripped in this manner,

the needle'enters the material'and a stitch Subsequently, while the work is formed. is still gripped, theawl is moved to the right and then pierces the material. While 7 ping pressure of thepresser-foot to be re-' leased, and the operating face thereof 'will be lifted from the work preparatory to an the awl is still in the material the roller 27 will enter the'throw 40 and cause the gripother feeding of the same, this feeding being' accomplished by the movementof the awl to the left. g p

.The pin 23 is adapted'to'move in' the forked end of the member 22, said pin bep s'pring 17 holding the pins 15, 20 contact. 1

ing moved by the action of the cam path 19 on the lever 16 in the endof which'said pin is mounted.

' The cam path 19 is provided with a throw adapted to oscillate the lever 16 at the roper time to measure off the given quantity of thread for the stitch, thepin indo' ing this moving longitudinally of theslot in the end of the member 22.

As the thread tin crossing this slot passes beneath the pin 23, itis obvious that-if the slidable member 22 was always in'the same position, a given length of thread would alwaysbe measured by the oscillation of the lever 16 and themOveinent of the pin 23.

' It is desired, however, to measure off difierent-lengths of thread for different thicknesses of material and this is readily accomplished by means of the slidable member'22, it being' self-evident that when" the presser-foot 35 is raised the thread-carrying gripping pressure exerted" pass-a ain alle gens- 2 M he meattice,

are; similarly raised to a new position corbeing; the same under all conditions.

pin 23"will' bein its highest position and h P n ZQ-t hreaa to prevent "a from being fed from the source of sup l The roller 1 8 islofless diameter-than the width of the cam "path 19 and is in contact with theinher wall of said path only wh n 'thelever 16 is being moved about its pivot I It obvious" that this thread" measuring devicewill operate-after the-'- presser foot 35 ihas'retiirned into"contactwith the "work. When the takeup "deviceis operating, the

irespondingwithfthethicknessof the" material andtwhen iii-"this raised position a -1 greater quantity r threadwil1 be drawn". "from the source of supply by the movement jofthe'pin 23in5the forked end of the member"22, the lowermost position of" said pin toineasure' the'thread. Theroller is never contacts with the opposite wall of saidp'ath. The pivot'm'em'ber. 17 has secured'to itsouten end an 'arm 17 to the end of 'which' is se-*""-" cured" a 1 spring 17 9,1' the opposite "end of This spring retains the pin 15' incontact with the pin 20 eizcept' duringthethread measuring operation,

1 Whenthe 'pins '15; and 2O are in contact, V the roller 18'is in contact with neither wallof the cam path 19. When in-the-rotation of the "cam*12, the throw'of the' 'cam path paths" beingretained 'in-this posit'ior'r by the 'Mou nted'u pon the fix-ed rod '14 is a split 'bl'o ck 41- 'hav-ing a clamping bolt 42 mounted therein by "which said block '41 may be securely clamp'ed 'in'adjusted position about theaxis of said rod: 14. This block 41 has upwardly extending ears43 in'which is mounted a stud "'44 formi a i t f a -"stop member-"45. a

This stop member 45has its forward lower end in contact with the upperjfaceof theblock 41 thereby preventing forward which is fastened to theframeworkbf the machine, all as describedin the Letters Pat ent Nof 1,133,149, issued Mar] 23, 1915, to

LE E. Johnson and'Edw'ard Erickson, 7

movement of said member 45 about the} axis of thepivot 44.

The rear end of th'e "stop member45 is i2 separated from the upper face ofthe block 41 i as shown in Fig. 1' of thedrawings, I and said member 45 is normally retained inthe position indicated in said -Fig. 1 by means of the spring 48 disposed within a socket in the block 41' and bearing against the unlderedge of the member,45. V i i v When the roller 27 is in the concentric portion of the cam path 261 and the presserfoot 35 is in gripping contact with the work, the upper extension 37 or" the member 22 is f removed from the' revoluble wheel abutof the cam path 26 and the presser-foot ,ment 47 as indicated in Fig. 10f thefdrawings. 7

When the roller 27 enters thethrow 4O 35 is lifted from the work the upward extension 37 of the slidable. member 22 will come into contact with the revoluble wheel abutment 47 and further rear movement of :said extension 37: is prevented.

As a resultof this construction, the slidable member 22 maybe cramped between vthe Opposite walls of the transverse groove when it is desired to move thepresserfoot by; the oscillation ofthe lever 28 p but when it is desired to efi ect the sliding movement of the member 22 relatively to the lever 28, the cramping of the member 22 against the opposite. walls of the transverse groove 30 is prevented by the contact of the upward extensions 87 with the revoluble abutment 47. I 7 7 It is obvious from an inspection of the drawings that this abutment is slightly yielding against the tension otthe spring 48 and the entire block 41 with the stop member 45 and revoluble abutment 47 thereon may ,be adjusted about the axis of the fixed rod 14 to vary the position of said abutment relatively to the extension 37.

In other words, the cramping of the presser-foot support in its operating lever vis permitted when such cramping is desired in the operation of the machine and is pre- 2 vented when in the operation it is desirable to have said pressenfoot support freely the operating lever 28. V j

The constant sliding of the member 22, during the operation of the machine, causes the same to become worn and if some provi-- sion is not made-to take up the wear, the efiectiveness of operation would be greatly affected and poor results attained.

In order to meet this objection, one Wall of the member-22 is inclined, as at 5,0, and one" wall of the groove 30 is also inclined and formedron a separate block 51, the inner end of which is normally separated from the face 52 of the lever 28. Q

' ber ,51.

The plate 33 is also normally separated 1 from the face53 ofithe member 22 which is secured to the lever 28 by the screws 54. and the screw or adjusting member 55. i

That portion 56 ofthe screw v between its head. 57 and its threaded shank 58, 15 eccentric and positioned in a cylindrical hole in the block or adjustable track -mem= The threaded shank 58 has mounted thereon the adjusting nut 59. i

As the sliding member 22 wears, the screw 55 maybe turned about itsaxis thereby causing the block 51 to be moved toward the slide 22 and into contact with the inclined face 50 thereof. a

When this adjustment has been made, the nut 59 in turned on the shank v58 until the eccentric portion 56 is locked in its adjusted position. a

-This clamping of the nut 59 will cause the screw 55 to be moved endwise causing the contacting inclined faces of the slide 22 and block 51 to move the slide transversely so that its face 60 will contact with the rear slide 22 it would be liable to wobble and the resser-foot mechanism would soon become inoperable or at least work so imperfectly that a new slide would be necessary.

With the construction herein shown and described the same slide 22 may be used indefinitely by simply making the proper adjustments.

It is believed that the operation and many advantages of the invention will be understood readily without further description.

Having thus described our invention, we claima The combination of a guide member including an aperture and a plane guide-wall, a second guide-wall at an angle "to the first said guide-wall, a machine-element'mounted against said guide-walls for longitudinal sliding movement, an adjustable trackmember provided with a plane guide-wall at an incline to the other said guide-walls and against said machine-element so as to prevent outward movement and rotary movement of the said. machine-element while permitting said longitudinal sliding movement, said adjustable track member having a cylindrical hole therethrough, and

7 an adjusting member rotatably fitted in the aperture of the first said track member and provided with'an eccentric part fitted in said cylindrical hole for moving said ad'- justable track-member towards the second 1,476,101 v x r a said guide-Wall, means being provided on Boston, Mass., t1 1is 19th day of August,

said adjusting member for moving said ad- 1921. V justable track-member towards the first said guide-wall, means being provided to secure ERNEST O. LEACH. 5 said adjusting member in its difierent ad- Witnesses: v 7 v justments. V WALTER E. L0MBAR1),

Signed by us at 746 Old South Bldg, NATHAN C. LOMBARD,

OTTO T. PETERSON. I 

